Time Warner Cable completes its $3 billion takeover of Insight Communications

Time Warner Cable announced Wednesday that it has completed its $3 billion purchase of Insight Communications, a cable, internet and telephone provider which serves Evansville, Henderson, and several other Tri-State communities.

“Today we are pleased to welcome new customers, new employees and new communities to Time Warner Cable,” said Glenn Britt, Chairman and CEO of Time Warner Cable. “With this acquisition, we have expanded in areas that fit well with our Midwest operations at an attractive price. We are excited to begin building on Insight’s successes and serving our new customers.”

For the short-term, Insight's 760,000 customers in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio, will notice no major changes to their service. New products and services will be rolled out over the next few months.

As with Time Warner's rollout of its brand in the former NewWave service territories it purchased last year in Kentucky and Tennessee, it will be some time before customers see the new company's logo on signs, vehicles and billing statements.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

• In the Tri-State area, Insight customers - in Evansville, Boonville, Cynthiana, Ft. Branch, Haubstadt, Huntingburg, Jasper, Mt. Vernon, Owensville, Poseyville & Princeton, Ind.; and Clay, Corydon, Dawson Springs, Henderson, Nortonville, Providence and St. Charles, Ky. - are now Time Warner Cable customers.
• No decision has been announced on changes to rates, services or products, although the company says new products and services will be phased in over the next several months.
• It isn't yet known if channels such as NFL Network and NFL RedZone, which are currently available to Insight customers, will remain in the lineup.  Time Warner Cable and the National Football League have long been at a stalemate with regard to carriage of those two networks.

NATIONAL NOTES: TWC hands out antennas, Lohan to host SNL

In honor of this Presidents Day, here's a special Presidential Edition of National Notes for this Monday, Feb. 20:

TIME WARNER CABLE GIVES OUT ANTENNAS:  Time Warner Cable's retransmission consent dispute with a Corpus Christi, Texas NBC affiliate has led the cable giant to hand out some 21,000 antennas to its customers so they can watch the channel. So ... what happens when the customers find out that over-the-air picture quality is better than cable? [FierceCable]

WHO WILL BE THE NEXT OPRAH?  Since Oprah Winfrey departed the broadcast airwaves last fall for cable, Ellen DeGeneres is probably the best talk-show host on the tube today. That hasn't stopped others from trying, nor will it ... a bunch of newbies (and some retreads) are in the works for this year. [The New York Times]

LILO TO HOST SNL:  NBC announced this morning that Lindsay Lohan will guest-host Saturday Night Live on March 3. Will she be a hit, or will it be the lowest-rated SNL in history?  We'll have to see. [AP via TVNewsCheck]

Time Warner Cable launches beta version of TWC TV for your computer

UPDATE, 2:30 p.m.:  I inadvertently left out the link to TWC TV.  If you'd like to try it out for yourself, go to twctv.com.

Time Warner Cable customers in the Tri-State and elsewhere who would like the opportunity to watch TV on their computers are in luck:  The cable company has launched the beta version of its TWC TV platform designed especially for your home computer.

The launch of this new platform, through which you can stream live TV right to your computer as well as manage your DVR and tune your set-top box, comes on the heels of TWC TV apps for the iOS and Android mobile platforms.

There are lots of features you can try out ... here's a list:

• Live TV – Users scroll the “channel browser” to see a list of available channels with listings displaying network logo, show name, and episode name.
• Guide – Up to 7 days of listings data. Option to filter guide display by “favorites only,” “HD only” or ”available to watch on PC.” You can also set channels as favorites from the Guide.
• Set-top box tuning – “Watch on TV” button within the program description to tune an MDN/ODN set-top box directly to the channel.
• PC tuning – “Watch on PC” button within the program description to tune PC directly to the channel.
• DVR management – Schedule one-time and series recordings on MDN/ODN DVRs directly from the Guide’s show pages. Click on the “DVR” tab to see a list of all upcoming recordings and make changes or cancel recordings.
• Search – Ability to search the Guide by show title, episode and/or by person.
• Settings – Ability to manage Favorite channels, link to set Parental Controls, choose the Device (STB/DVR) to which you are connected for STB/DVR management, and turn on/off Closed Captioning on the website’s video player.

TWC TV works on both PC and Mac computers, and you'll need to have Internet Explorer (IE7 and up), Firefox (4 and up), Safari (5 and up) or the latest stable release of Google's Chrome browser.

For more information on TWC TV, visit Time Warner Cable's Untangled blog.

Time Warner Cable serves the following Tri-State communities:

• SOUTHERN ILLINOIS - Shawneetown and Junction
• SOUTHWESTERN INDIANA - Chandler, Hatfield, Newburgh, Reo and Rockport as well as outlying portions of Warrick and Spencer counties
• WESTERN KENTUCKY - Dixon, Clay, Wheatcroft, Corydon, Livermore, Calhoun, Morganfield, Waverly, Uniontown, Owensboro, Madisonville, Beaver Dam, Earlington, Hanson, White Plains, Mortons Gap, Sebree, Centertown, Hartford, Rockport and outlying portions of Union, Webster, Daviess, Henderson, McLean, Ohio and Hopkins counties

Thanks to John for the news tip!

Insight reaches franchise deal with Metro Louisville gov't: Company to pay city $3.5 million

The long-running dispute between Insight Communications and Metro Louisville government is over.

Metro Louisville officials and the company today reached an agreement to renew Insight's franchise agreements in the old city of Louisville and the outlying portions of Jefferson County, Ky. WDRB-TV reports that Insight will pay the city $3.5 million as part of the settlement, which metro officials will use to help offset a $12 million budget deficit.

Insight will also continue to provide internet service to schools and government buildings at no charge, and other customers will see no change in service or benefits.

The new arrangement will last until Time Warner Cable completes its $3 billion takeover of Insight, and another new franchise agreement will be negotiated at that time.

WDRB reports that the Time Warner takeover could be completed "in a matter of weeks." However, Insight spokesman Jason Keller, when contacted this afternoon, declined to comment.

In addition to the new franchise deal, Metro Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer says that he will continue working with Time Warner Cable to ensure that Insight's customer call center in Louisville is retained.

I'll continue to bring you more information as soon as it becomes available.

Insight/Time Warner Cable deal another step closer to completion

The Federal Communications Commission has given its blessing for Time Warner Cable to go ahead with its $3 billion purchase of Insight Communications, meaning that the deal is yet another step closer to completion.

When it closes later this year, TWC will become Kentucky's largest cable provider, and the company's footprint in Indiana and Ohio will be greatly expanded as well. Overall, Insight has roughly 750,000 customers in the those three states.

In its ruling, the FCC said, “The combined company’s broader service footprint, increased operating efficiencies, and greater scale and scope create a potentially stronger competitor” for phone business, which “outweighs the potential harm ... from eliminating Insight as a competitor in the limited area in which both companies compete.”

With only a very small portion of the two companies' service territories in Ohio actually overlapping, FCC approval was all but assured.

In the Tri-State, Insight operates cable systems in Boonville, Cynthiana, Evansville, Ft. Branch, Haubstadt, Huntingburg, Jasper, Mt. Vernon, Owensville, Poseyville and Princeton in Southwestern Indiana; and Clay, Corydon, Dawson Springs, Henderson, Nortonville, Providence and St. Charles in Western Kentucky.

Time Warner Cable, which entered the Tri-State through its purchase of the assets of the now-defunct Adelphia Communications in 2006, currently serves Shawneetown and Junction, Ill.; Chandler, Hatfield, Newburgh, Reo and Rockport, Ind.; and Beaver Dam, Calhoun, Clay, Dixon, Livermore, Madisonville, Morganfield, Owensboro, Uniontown, Waverly and Wheatcroft, Ky.

No definitive timetable has been publicly announced for completion of the sale, but if TWC's purchase of NewWave Communications' Kentucky and Tennessee systems (which was announced just two months prior to the Insight agreement and largely finalized from customers' perspective today) is any guide, we should know more very soon.

There are some details still to be taken care of before the deal can be concluded. Insight's franchise agreements in Louisville expired late last year, and that situation remains unresolved. As a condition of any new agreement, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer has sought assurances that the company's 900-employee call center will not be closed; however, Insight says it can make no such guarantee.

Stay tuned ...

MORE READING:

• Courier-Journal: "FCC approves Insight sale to Time Warner"
• WDRB News: "FCC: Time Warner can buy Insight"

Time Warner Cable takes over cable service in Hopkins and Ohio counties

It's Feb. 1, the start of a new month and a new era for cable customers in two Tri-State counties.

Time Warner Cable has officially taken over the cable systems from NewWave Communications in Hopkins and Ohio counties in Western Kentucky, as well as elsewhere in Kentucky and Tennessee. Eventually, that means changes are coming, but for now, not much other than the name of your provider will change. Here's what you need to know (courtesy of TWC):

In the short-term, you will see limited changes to your services as the company works to implement technical upgrades to bring you all that Time Warner Cable has to offer. Any changes to services or equipment will happen gradually and with ample notice. Soon, you'll notice these changes:

• An enhanced on-screen guide with additional search options to make it even easier to find your favorite shows.
• Even more HD programming will be added to the current HD lineup.
• Where On Demand is currently available, Primetime On Demand programming from NBC and Fox will be added.

 New features to be added later include:

• The TWC TV app for iPad, which will allow you to view more than 100 channels of live TV programming right on your device – anywhere in your home.
• Start Over allows you to restart a show already in progress with the press of a button.
• Look Back lets you watch primetime shows up to 72 hours later – even without setting your DVR.

The transition to Time Warner Cable will not result in a change to your bill. Prices for the services you now have will be reviewed and updated periodically, as you’ve experienced in the past. In addition, you can pay your bill the same ways as before: by mail, in-person at one of the payment center locations or by credit card over the phone or online. And, for now, if you pay by check, you can write it to NewWave or Time Warner Cable.

The equipment you currently have in your home for your cable, internet and phone service will continue to work. You don't need to change anything now. Eventually, internet customers will be transitioned to new email addresses and login credentials, but the company will give you plenty of notice ahead of time, as well as assistance in making those changes.

If you have questions or need assistance, Time Warner Cable's customer service is available 24/7 by calling 1-855-821-7018.

Oh, and if you haven't seen them yet, the new channel lineups are available:

• Click here if you live in Hopkins County
• Click here if you live in Ohio County